Friendly Faces: Building Good Customer Relationships

As a startup, you’re in the fortunate position of still being small and relevant to your customers. Early fans tend to be the most loyal ones and they’ve been around since the dawn of your business – the least you can do is to make sure they stay on your side.

Sadly, many startups grow out of their original customer base and lose touch with them completely; maybe because they expand and forget, or maybe because they lose that charm that their early customers fell for, to begin with.

Here is a handful of great ways you can keep them coming back for more for as long as possible so that you can stay grounded even though you’re growing.

Open feedback channels

When you’d like to make your business better for your customers, but they have no means of communicating with you, how do you expect to make the relationship stronger? Most business owners understand the idea of strong relationships but they don’t necessarily see how more feedback can help them out.

It applies to providing them with excellent customer service as well as sending out surveys, launching social media competitions , and any other way you’re able to make the voice of your customer heard. They will give you an insight to how they feel about your business and the elements you must cherish, which is just what you need to know about before it’s time to grow.

Market to your current customers

You’re probably familiar with the 80/20 rule , right? They say that 80 % of your sales come from 20 % of your customers – usually the core customers, the ones you’ve had around for quite some time already. We tend to direct our marketing efforts to attract new customers, though, when we should actually be focusing on keeping the current ones happy.

Ramp up your marketing campaign to strengthen the bond, and work your way to a proper social media campaign too – that way, they’ll be able to give you feedback and partake in the discussion, at the same time. Use Swift Financial if you don’t have the resources to roll out a campaign now, and your ROI should be able to cover the expenses.

Make use of a variety of marketing tactics, such as a personalised service and free consultations too, and you should be able to see an increase in revenue after some time.

Do the follow-up

Those customers who have been around for such a long time will be the best salespeople you’ve ever had. Word of mouth is still the best way to go, and if they keep using your services or purchasing your products, they’ll spread the word to their friends and colleagues too – just make sure you remind them to do so.

Send a friendly follow-up email, an update message of interest, or any other way you’re able to vaguely trigger their memory the next time they’re in a conversation where your name could pop up. That way, they’ll be spreading the word for you – and you’ll be maintaining your current relationships while you’re also building new ones.